Thread: What is your most rare straight razor?

Originally Posted by jfk742

This probably my rarest, given the short period of time in which they were ground.
Attachment 300828
I just love a tapered blade, I need to find some more...

That gentle taper and notch look classy.

Originally Posted by MikeT

Dang it, and there I was thinking I had captured a unicorn!
I'm gonna have to dig up a rare one.. Gotta T. Ascher that I hear there's only a handful of...

I have 5 T. Aschers.

Originally Posted by Voidmonster

I have 5 T. Aschers.

Muahahahahahah!
It worked! I was trying to draw you out of the paperwork!
Mine is not as nice as the ones I've seen you post, but I did infact feel special to be among the few.
When I get home I'll post a pic.
And I'll have to see if I can find another rare one, though the Bencini is probably the most rare that I have.

Really nice

Originally Posted by MikeT

Muahahahahahah!
It worked! I was trying to draw you out of the paperwork!
Mine is not as nice as the ones I've seen you post, but I did infact feel special to be among the few.
When I get home I'll post a pic.
And I'll have to see if I can find another rare one, though the Bencini is probably the most rare that I have.

Oh, I've bought every one I've seen regardless of condition. I have a few that're unusable.

Originally Posted by Voidmonster

Oh, I've bought every one I've seen regardless of condition. I have a few that're unusable.

Here's that pic. Sorry it took so long.
T. Ascher SupeSilv Steel
Quarter hollow. 4/8". Has a frown at heel. Needs a bit of a restore. I really like to see the grain in the horn. And those collars are always nice!

I have one that just says john curtin Damascus. I've never heard of another made by him and couldn't find anything about it so I'm guessing it's rare. No clue as to value I found it at as renansounce fair for like 15 dollars in good condition so I got it. Shaves great.

Originally Posted by jfk742

This probably my rarest, given the short period of time in which they were ground.
Attachment 300828
I just love a tapered blade, I need to find some more...

are those "tapered" like supposed to be like that? that's very interesting - my first reaction would be to think it's some sort of mistake...have u seen many of those, when/where were they ground?

I have 3 from various makers. Made in England and I want to say from 1840’s to 1860’s (hopefully voidmonster or scienceguy can jump in here to correct me). The spines are tapered as well to maintain geometry.



The marshes was reground at some point and probably had a barbers notch as well.

The Rodgers is the only one I’ve seen from them. The chip in the edge is a bummer and the only reason I haven’t cleaned it up. I’m going to lose a bunch of steel and looks to have not been honed too much through out it’s life.

Edit: photo looks super clear on my tablet, not so much uploaded, apologies for quality.

Originally Posted by jfk742

I have 3 from various makers. Made in England and I want to say from 1840’s to 1860’s (hopefully voidmonster or scienceguy can jump in here to correct me). The spines are tapered as well to maintain geometry.



The marshes was reground at some point and probably had a barbers notch as well.

The Rodgers is the only one I’ve seen from them. The chip in the edge is a bummer and the only reason I haven’t cleaned it up. I’m going to lose a bunch of steel and looks to have not been honed too much through out it’s life.

Edit: photo looks super clear on my tablet, not so much uploaded, apologies for quality.

At this point, I'm not even sure how many tapered razors I have. There are ten of them in my 'tapered blades' drawer, but I know I have at least several others waiting to have scales put on them, and one out on loan.

The classic tapered point razors were made between 1837 and the early 1840's, with a few notable exceptions.

I'll cover the exceptions first.





The illustration is from the 1815 Smith's Key, and is a pretty unequivocal example of an original razor ground to a tapering point. The photo was made by Joseph Hives between 1803 (when he was freed from his apprenticeship) to 1808 (when he died). The hives razor has some hone wear that exaggerates the design, but that's because people unused to honing this shape of blade end up putting too much pressure on the point and flattening it further.



This razor was made by John Bagshaw of Liverpool in the 1870's and was part of an unmarked 7-day set.

So, the style has existed for a very long time, and it persisted for a very long time too...

But there was an explosion of them over a brief period when nearly every manufacturer made one and most all of them were etched 'AN EXCELLENT RAZOR' along the top of the spine. A few are stamped with King William's crown mark 'WR', most that have a crown are Victoria's (which dates them).

The beginning date there of 1837 for 'AN EXCELLENT RAZOR' is pretty firm. The ending date -- well, we're relying on Henry Lummus.

Here are some of the manufacturers I've seen whose razors were etched 'AN EXCELLENT RAZOR' on a tapered blade, in the order I remember them:

Fred Fenney
Wm. Greaves & Sons
Wade & Butcher
George Savage & Sons
Joseph Elliot
Hawcroft & Pearson
Marshes & Shepherd
J. Bingham (pre-Fenney buy-out!)

You can triangulate the dates a little more using the companies, since people like Hawcroft & Pearson went out of business, the Greaveses died, Fenney died and was sold of to Bingham. Many of those were clearly made before 1845 due to company closures, and after 1837 because a lot are marked VR.

Except for things like the Bagshaws from Liverpool (Bagshaw was a cutler from Sheffield who moved a lot of American product and decided to relocate to the port most of his goods went through in the 1840's, so there's another interesting data point).

When they're properly honed, they are fantastic to shave with around a mustache.